21 May 2024

Turkey's fastest drone—the Bayraktar Akinci—working in tandem with a Cougar helicopter were key to finding the site of the helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and six others. 

Turkey's Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu confirmed the precise location of the crash site—which was in the Dizmar forest, East Azerbaijan province—was determined through thermal data broadcast to emergency personnel by the Akinci drone. The coordinates were then provided to Iran.

High-altitude drones such as the Akinci are becoming more and more critical to search and rescue or recovery missions. In this case, for example, Iran had initially asked Turkey for a night-vision-equipped helicopter to aid in the search for Raisi's copter. However, poor weather had grounded conventional manned aircraft. 

"It was a race against time," stated aviation analyst Tolga Ozbek, "and the Akinci is the fastest drone currently in service in Turkey."

The Akinci drone was flown approximately 330 feet above the terrain through conditions of rain, wind, and fog—ultimately covering more than 1,300 miles during its 7.5-hour flight.